Tracy Morgan Arrested for DWI

By: Shannon Gossage

Morgan, a former Saturday Night Live regular was stopped by police at approximately 4:30 a.m. after allegedly "weaving back and forth, into the right and left lanes." Morgan, 38, was driving a Cadillac Escalade on the Henry Hudson Parkway near West 158th Street when he was pulled over. According to Edison Alban, a spokesman for District Attorney Robert Morgenthau, the police reported that Morgan smelled of alcohol and the actor reportedly admitted to police officers that he had had a few beers at a club earlier. He later failed a Breathalyzer test at the 28th Precinct stationhouse and was booked on the DWI charge.

Morgan was arraigned on Tuesday afternoon and released without having to post bail, but was ordered by Manhattan Criminal Court Judge Matthew F. Cooper to surrender his driver’s license. Sheryl Reich, Morgan’s attorney, reportedly turned down the prosecution’s plea bargain deal that would’ve ordered Morgan to complete five days community service, pay a $1,000 fine, and enroll in an alcohol-education class. Morgan faces up to a year in jail if convicted on all counts and is set to appear in court on January 4. There has been no comment from his camp.

This isn’t the first time that Morgan was arrested for drunken driving charges. He was slapped with similar charges last December after being pulled over in Los Angeles for speeding. He pleaded no contest to misdemeanor drunken driving charges and was sentenced to complete an alcohol-education program and was placed on 36-months probation. Morgan was a SNL regular from 1996-2003. He then went on to star in his own short-lived TV series The Tracy Morgan Show. He is currently starring with SNL alum Tina Fey and Alec Baldwin on NBC’s 30 Rock. The show was created by Fey and is a parody of sketch comedy shows.